Illinois Public Media

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Illinois Public Media

Danville Nurses Plan Trip to Oklahoma for Disaster Assistance

May 21, 2013

As recovery efforts continue following Monday’s deadly tornado in Moore, Okla., a group of nurses in Danville is planning a trip there to help out.

Darci Dreher works for Whitestar Home Health Agency, which provides home-nursing care in Decatur and Danville. Dreher said she and a handful of her co-workers are collecting food, clothing, medical supplies, and anything else people affected by the tornado may need.

“We have not done this before,” Dreher said. “There’s something about this that has just touched our hearts. We all have children. When you saw that picture at the school being pretty much leveled, it just touched our hearts. We want to help them as much as we can.”

Dreher is planning to leave for Oklahoma on May 31, and she said she will be there for a few days. To donate supplies, people can call her at 217-442-0605, or stop by her office at 108 N. Vermilion Street in Danville.

The American Red Cross said it will be on the ground for weeks in areas affected by the tornado.

Jamie Davis is the emergency services manager at the Red Cross' office in Champaign. She said she has volunteers on standby to head to Oklahoma, but she said they so far have not been called. In the meantime, she is asking people to donate money to help with the relief efforts.

"The problem for us is a lot of people want to donate household items," Davis said. "In their heart it's a really good thing to do; however, when you get down there, these folks have nothing and they have nowhere to put it...so that's why we do the monetary donations."

Donations to the American Red Cross can be made at www.redcross.org. People can also call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.